Quote from: chirine ba kal;936883Why not do what the original printer did? Wrap woodgrain paper around a plain box. Slap the label on it, and there you go.

And then sell it to Gary Gygax and Don Kaye at a bargain rate because the damn things are sitting around in your basement because the customer defaulted...

Quote from: estar;936906For me I packed away the OD&D anniversary books and put the original set that I own (Core and supplements) in their place in the wooden box.

As for the general case I throw that out there because not everybody likes to do crafts which is what putting together your own woodgrain would involve. Print on demand is a intermediate step.

Now what I would kill for is a source of the paper that the old judges guild map were printed on. They were parchement with a slight pebble texture. Nobody makes them even in letter size let along 22 x 17.

How about the stuff the original Empire of the Petal Throne maps were printed on?  Terry Kuntz is STILL (justifiably!) proud of those.  Best damn maps ever.

And a major portion of the price.

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;936911How about the stuff the original Empire of the Petal Throne maps were printed on?  Terry Kuntz is STILL (justifiably!) proud of those.  Best damn maps ever.

And a major portion of the price.

Never seen a physical EPT map. Thanks for the heads up, I will check it out if I ever get the chance.

As for Judges Guild it is a purely nostalgia thing. You can find tough 22 x 17 paper to use just not the exact stock that the JG maps were printed on. In the mid 2000s there was a concerted effort with no luck in finding new stock or anything close.

Quote from: estar;936906For me I packed away the OD&D anniversary books and put the original set that I own (Core and supplements) in their place in the wooden box.

As for the general case I throw that out there because not everybody likes to do crafts which is what putting together your own woodgrain would involve. Print on demand is a intermediate step.

Now what I would kill for is a source of the paper that the old judges guild map were printed on. They were parchement with a slight pebble texture. Nobody makes them even in letter size let along 22 x 17.

Agreed; it's very fiddly work to get right; there used to be a machine at print shops that would cut and fold the paper around the box. All the printer would have to do is slap on the glue, and push the big green button.

Hmmm. Art papers? Just a thought; I see stuff like this go by a lot from various paper supply houses, but probably only available as limited-run stuff.

Quote from: estar;936960Never seen a physical EPT map. Thanks for the heads up, I will check it out if I ever get the chance.

As for Judges Guild it is a purely nostalgia thing. You can find tough 22 x 17 paper to use just not the exact stock that the JG maps were printed on. In the mid 2000s there was a concerted effort with no luck in finding new stock or anything close.

The EPT maps are done on a plastic-impregnated paper that I've never seen before or since. I was told by the printer that it was a very odd lot of paper they'd gotten in as a sample, and it was never available again - too hard to use, and too hard to sell to customers.

Not surprised about the JG paper not being available. Stocks come and go according to demand, and my guess is that the mill had maybe one or two customers and so never repeated the run. The killer is the extra step of running the sheet stock through the finishing rollers to get the texture; costs more, and margins are just too low...

The EPT maps were odd paper indeed, but hoo boy, they are virtually indestructable accidentally.  Waterproof (yay vinyl!), tough enough that I'm not sure I could tear one with my bare hands, and full color... which was expensive as HELL back in 1975!

Quote from: estar;936960Never seen a physical EPT map. Thanks for the heads up, I will check it out if I ever get the chance.

As for Judges Guild it is a purely nostalgia thing. You can find tough 22 x 17 paper to use just not the exact stock that the JG maps were printed on. In the mid 2000s there was a concerted effort with no luck in finding new stock or anything close.

I still have four packs of the JG blank five pack 17"x22" hex sheets. On the old four color Heidelberg presses, they bought that paper in lots (or rolls) for that from custom paper manufacturers. I think the JG maps were done up with a single color offset printer though, maybe an AB Dick 360 printer or a 9850 or 9870.

Here's a newer SX-74 priced at a very reasonable $750,000 or so. you can speed it up to do up to 15,000 prints per hour... (I mean Impressions...)
Speedmaster SX 74 Demonstration;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T2q7eDXwJs

Back in the day though, they used acid etched plates made from photographic negatives, and the press operator had to hand smear ink onto the press rollers using a hand tool and keep ink on the rollers while the press was running. (I had to do that a few times as a temp replacing a press operator, so know a little bit about that). plus the rollers needed almost constant adjustment during the print runs as well.

In the 90's they finally got around to installing ink transfer rolls in the presses that automated the ink spreading job on the rolls job creating much less print waste, and making the press operators job much easier. (Not me though, I did all my four-color offset press work in 1987 when I worked at a print shop in Boulder for about five months. I was offered a job at a print house in Indianapolis in 2003 using the older presses, but I had already accepted another job that was offered to me between the time they interviewed me and the time they finally decided to hire me (Short story they found a more experienced press operator, but he was flaky and worked only long enough to collect one check.), and the job I had already accepted paid better anyway.  

Ink Transfer Roll Patent
https://www.google.com/patents/US5140902

Here you can get textured paper for digital printing with an eggshell finish;
http://www.riseandshinepaper.com/skill-session-specifying-paper-letterpress/

Here is a Bianco Felt Textured very similar to the JG paper;
https://www.neenahcabinet.com/#/products?brand=CANALETTO&color=Bianco&finish=Felt

Here is a Classic Natural White that looks like almost a perfect match. Sheet size is 25" x 38" which you could print two 17"x22" maps on one side and two maps on the opposite side as well;
https://www.neenahcabinet.com/#/products?brand=CLASSIC%20Wine%20Label&color=Classic%20Natural%20White&finish=Felt

Looking for just the exact paper? I would start here;
http://www.paperspecs.com/

Most of the paper makers will send you samples for free. I think they charge for full swatch books now though.